Joseph Charles John Piscopo (pronounced PIS-co-po; born June 17, 1951) is an American comedian, actor, musician, writer, and a nationally syndicated radio talk show host. He is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s where he played a variety of recurring characters.

In the summer of 1980, Piscopo was hired as a contract player for Saturday Night Live. The show had gone through major upheaval when all the writers, major producers, and cast members left that spring. The all-new cast bombed with critics and fans, with the exception of Piscopo and Eddie Murphy; thus they were the only two cast members to be kept when Dick Ebersol took over the show the following spring. With the success of SNL, Piscopo moved to the wealthy borough of Alpine, New Jersey.[2]

Piscopo was best known for his impressions of celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, although he allegedly feared for his life due to Sinatra's alleged Mafia ties. Piscopo rewrote the lyrics for a Sinatra sketch with the help of Sinatra lyricist Sammy Cahn, and recalled that "by the grace of God, the old man loved it."[4]

Piscopo left Saturday Night Live at the end of the 1983-84 season. In 1984, he starred in a special for HBO and released a book for Pocket Books called The Piscopo Tapes. An album, New Jersey, for Columbia Records followed in 1985[5] and an ABC special called "The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special" in May 1986.[6] In 1987, Piscopo was name-checked in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' #1 rock single "Jammin' Me."

Since January 2014 he has hosted Piscopo in the Morning with Al Gattullo, Frank Morano, and Debbie DuHaime from 6:00 to 10:00 AM, Monday through Friday on AM 970 The Answer (WNYM) in New York City.[7]

Piscopo married former "Wheel of Fortune" producer Nancy Jones in 1973. They had one child and divorced in 1988. He married Kimberly Driscoll in 1997. They had three children and divorced in 2006.[10] Piscopo is a resident of Lebanon Township, New Jersey.[11][12]

^ abStrauss, Robert. "So Jersey, He Deserves His Own Rest Area", The New York Times, August 7, 2005. Accessed March 14, 2011. "Mr. Piscopo's father, also named Joe, was a lawyer and the family mostly lived in Essex County, the younger Joe graduating from West Essex High School in North Caldwell. With his Saturday Night Live fame, he moved to one of the richest corners of New Jersey, Alpine, persuading Mr. Murphy to join him there in that wealthy enclave by the Palisades."